Free market?

SPA, FTA, EPA TPP…... (whatever other). What exactly are they? For me, one of the lowest income people (on DSP because of my stroke with aphasia) I don't see these things working for this country. Or any country in this globe. Why?

Back in the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s and 1940s this world had WW1 and WW2. What was it? That was wars fought by men who registered with their country army, navy or airforce. In WW1 that war was 'sold' to men, who never realised that it meant death. Their death. Those who registered for WW2 thought the same, didn't have to be scripted. At least, that was Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and USA. France had two armies – for and against either the western armies or the German army. Germany's army fought for their Fuehrer, Hilter – the “greatest Nazi”, according to top military who never went to the war front.

Italy started with Mussolini who fought for Hitler. Russia joined with USA, but after WW2 they built their own wall. There were a lot of other countries throughout Europe which supported Hitler or supported Great Britain's Churchill. The Jews, caught in the middle by Hitler, were killed during the Holocaust. Or caught a boat to Palestine, which later became Israel.

Japan fought for themselves. They lost.

WW2 ended in 1945, but other wars throughout the globe sprung up, finished, rebuilt, restarted, finished and started new. Korea, Viet Nam, South Africa, Sudan, Slovakia, Columbia, Faulkland Islands, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea... so many more. Have a look up Wikipaedia. Might have you crying.

And who ran – run - these wars? Men. Men still do. Men with money, billions, who supply weapons, paid, rich. Is this connected with SPAs, FTAs, EPAs and TPPs or are wars definitely separate?

The SPAs, FTAs, EPAs and TPPs still carry on, supposed to be “free market” trading. Australia has a TPPA with Canada, USA, Mexico, Chile, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam and Japan. The list on the “About FTAs” page includes Chile, China (ChFTA), European Union, Gulf Cooperation Council, Hong Kong, India (CECA), Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand (AANZFTA), Peru, Singapore, Thailand and USA. It talks about “global trade liberalisation” and “increas(ing) economic integration between participating countries”. Didn't know about this? Have a read – don't think I'm making it all up!

So where do those within this country who are in poverty – beneficiaries, low-paid workers, those who can only get casual or part-time work – fit in with all of this? I really don't know... we're not even mentioned on the dfat website. Nowhere except Centrelink which complains that we suck money out of them. To end up in poverty.... yeah, right. It seems Centrelink just doesn't know.

FTAs have come around in the 1800s, fell over during the Great Depression, and now set up in this 21^st century. Michael Priestley in 2008 wrote “At the time of the Asian financial crisis in 1997/98 there were only six FTAs in the Asia-Pacific region. At the end of 2006, there were more than 60 FTA projects in various stages of development or negotiation.” Some of the Australian FTAs were set up since 2003, many more are being negotiated since 2008. Priestley questioned these agreements in his conclusion: “In light of the current experience it is questionable whether Australia’s FTAs, on a country by country basis, can speed up trade liberalisation by delivering benefits to Australian producers faster than through the multilateral processes.” Yet dfat is still going ahead.

Very recently, whilst building the Perth's child hospital, wall panels were imported from China. They were installed before anyone noticed the difference – and they included asbestos. Construction was stopped. The project still hasn't been finished. No-one seems to know when exactly it will. The contractor, John Holland, walked away from it. The CFMEU has called for a ban on those panels. No one who is supposed to monitor products imported on FTAs has paid attention to this.

And where we export to – say, China,Japan – where they accept our product as imports, we should have the benefit of no tariffs, definitely not hidden tariffs.

So how can those people like me, beneficiaries, fit in with all of this? It seems Centrelink just doesn't know about this, either.

To ensure that SPAs, FTAs, EPAs and TPPs work, to ensure that the increase of export and import increases employment, to ensure that many people – beneficiaries – right now just don't have any ability to create employment, no matter how often they attend the Centrelink contractor, this government should be – MUST be – looking at how well this country is doing from these agreements. I don't care who gets rich, but I definitely care about every person who ends up out of work, in Centrelink, abused by government staff and not – ever – treated like a REAL person.

Success isn't just for the people who own a company.